Biomedical engineering looks at healthcare delivery, technologies, and devices allowing for the exploration of biotechnology, biomechanics, and biosensors. Biomedical engineers apply the concepts of design, optimization, and programming to complex biological systems in order to detect, repair, and treat disease as well as to create diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Within our curriculum we have three tracks to choose from: biomechanics; biomaterials; and sensors and instrumentation.

Chemical engineers develop techniques to transform raw materials into useful products and innovations. It is a broad field of study which offers a biochemical concentration and explores biotechnology, energy, the environment, and materials. There is also a certificate in materials engineering for innovators looking to design and fabricate revolutionary new materials and products.

Civil engineers design, construct and manage transportation systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; solid waste landfills; and city infrastructures, including bridges, tunnels and buildings. They perform reliability and economic feasibility studies to ensure safe and economically efficient outcomes. Within the major you can take elective courses in specialized areas such as environmental, structural, geotechnical, and transportation engineering.

Computer engineers are experts in hardware and software and design and build the electronic platforms on which every computer program is executed. Advances in data analytics, AI, and machine learning require faster computers that can handle increasing amounts of data, and computer engineers are at the forefront in developing the accelerated computing architectures to keep pace. The advent of cloud computing and ubiquitous embedded processors has led to the Internet of Things (IoT) that couples the cyber and physical worlds. Computer engineers are uniquely qualified to handle the challenges at these interfaces including our society’s most pressing needs in privacy and security.

Electrical engineers use principles of physics, mathematics, and computation to design and build electronic devices and systems that form the building blocks for today’s sophisticated technologies found in computer, communication, energy, health-care, smart-city and transportation systems. Examples include smartphones, autonomous vehicles, wearable electronics and networks ranging from the electric grid to the Internet. EE’s are thinkers, hackers, innovators, and will have a significant hand in engineering the next computing platform, whatever “it” may be, and in helping to put the first woman on Mars.

Industrial engineers use data science and analytics to transform data into knowledge, combine this with simulation and optimization to manage risk and improve processes, and consider human factors, to design technologies and systems that make society safer, greener, more productive, and happier. Industrial engineers combine math, engineering, economics, social science, and business to contribute to a wide range of industries including aerospace, healthcare, and energy. This background allows them to quickly rise to high-impact positions.

Biomechanics, machine design, robotics, green buildings, energy generation, electronics cooling, advanced materials and manufacturing – we design the mechanical solutions to meet societal needs. Starting with the laws of physics and some mathematics, we develop better prosthetic limbs, improved cell-phone batteries, cleaner cars, quieter aircraft engines, and advanced wind turbines. And we figure out how to manufacture these things out of new materials at lower cost with less waste and less energy.

Discover Engineering™: Engineers are changing the world all of the time. They dream up creative, practical solutions and work with other smart, inspiring people to invent, design, and create things that matter. Visit this site to learn more about the fields within engineering.

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UMass Amherst accepts the Common Application. Visit the undergrad admissions page to learn what a complete application package includes, as well as the criteria used by our admissions staff when reviewing applicants.

First-year Intro Class

Looking to explore all of the fields during your first year? Introduction to Engineering: Topics in Engineering Disciplines (ENGIN 100) provides a broad overview of each area of study and fulfills the intro class requirement, no matter which engineering major you ultimately apply to.